Shima hastily walked through the crowds. He scoffed looking at the receipt in his hand.
"Incompetent." He crumpled it up and shoved it roughly into his pocket. He pulled his coat around him tighter, reaching for some warmth as he walked away. At the very same time, SF exited the store and took approximately the same path, though he made a left near the start of the exotic stalls and dipped into a dark alley-way where he was supposed to meet his contact. He was to pick up a new contract. He expected he would get a lashing afterwards from Z for even thinking about it, but he had someone to provide for, and no other source of employment. In the most shrouded corner of the place a person stood, swathed in a trench-cloak. The figure reached out a hand from their trench-coat and held out a slip of paper for him to receive. As soon as the paper disappeared from their hand he dissolved into a grate beneath where he was. The piece of paper SF now held was a piece of a profile report. Not much was on it, only a name, last place they were spotted and a picture. His new target had not many discernible features. Black hair, pale skin. Not out of the ordinary. He noticed that the eyes of this new person were a striking pea green, with the pupil of a cat. A pang of guilty rung from within him, he couldn't imagine the damage this would cause to their family. But he brushed this off as he spotted the location on the edge of the paper. He turned ninety degrees, grabbing the first rung of a rusty ladder which would lead him to the rooftops. The rooftops were quite a good place to travel through, no-one there, no distractions, a peaceful place for a not so peaceful person. Every time he jumped to the next building, he saw a black cat sitting on the edge of the building as he landed and after the nineteenth time he decided to stop. The cat let out a playful meow as it jumped in front of him, stretching its long flexible body towards him.
"Alright, I see you. Now fuck off back to your owner, I have things to do." He grabbed the cat placed it gently behind him. But it insisted on following him. Every time he looked behind him, he would see it, just trotting along behind him. Grumbling under his breath, he picked the cat up and held it out in front of himself. It had no collar, no sign of ownership anywhere visible.
"You want to keep following me? Well guess what, now your mine." He said proudly, bringing the cat to his chest. It made no move in protest, but simply hung limp. With his new-found friend, he continued on his trek, stopping where he expected to find his next victim. He dropped down behind a dumpster, cautious as not to leave traces by using his rifle again. He placed the cat on the dumpster, realizing he could not effectively complete this with a furry companion like a cat having to be held. He pulled the rifle from the sling on his back and peered around the corner at the target. As soon as they turned their back, he jumped forth and struck them with the rifle, the blunt force trauma killing them instantly. He made hast back to the dumpster to collect the cat, but it had fled. Sadden, he started the walk on foot back to his house, as birds stirred above him. Shima looked carefully over the crime scene. He flexed his hand in front of him, the tiny claws of the slowly humanizing paw appearing and disappearing accordingly.
"Check mate."
